Big-box grinch stole Christmas

As it came down to the wire, Dec. 23, we still had $300 to spoil our kids.

When they were young we would even take out a small loan before Christmas, but now they're in their 20s and Santa ain't so fat with cash these days. My wife grabbed her coat and cash and headed to the big-box in the county.

My son's been borrowing his sister's television for the past few months, so when my wife saw the last affordable TV on the shelf she had the sales people load it in the car and brought it home.

He unwrapped it Christmas morning and we all had a wonderful Christmas. I told him not to open the box until he got home so nothing would end up broken or missing.

They (son and girlfriend) opened it when he got home only to find no stand, power cord or instructions.

They stuffed it back in the box and took it to their great big, giant store in Sacramento where they all found out it was someone's old TV.

The store in Lake County refused to return or exchange it because the TV was out of my possession.

I'm pretty sure that is what most people do at Christmas, give stuff away.

The manager of the day backed up the security tape to ensure we actually bought it, but didn't look for where it came from or who put it on the shelf.

I called the police they took a report over the phone. When people steal from the store, they're usually prosecuted. But the store stole from me, so now I get to find out where small claims court is.

Shame on the grinch who works at the Lake County big-box store who stole my 32-inch LCD HDTV with the serial number ME5A1245448046.

I hope your mom reads this and tans your hide. I hope a fellow employee turns you in. It's sad that store doesn't pay their employees enough to afford a television or food or healthcare, but to condone theft from their customers is a real shame.